Backed into tall pines and hardwoods outside Conroe is a golf course unlike any other. The Links at West Fork is a genuine hybrid, a track not similar to any other in the area.
Built around the west fork of the San Jacinto River, The Links is a Rick Robbins design that offers the open feel of a true pasture layout but is absolutely buried in towering trees.
In Houston from 1976-1987, when he worked with Robert Von Hagge and Bruce Devlin, Robbins is based now in North Carolina but welcomed the opportunity to design the course.
"We worked hard to create a course that had virtually no impact on wetlands," said Robbins. "It was designed to drain well, but it was impossible to lift the course out of the flood plain."
Bisected by that arm of the San Jacinto, The Links is susceptible to occasional flooding. Its first immersion came just this week after successive days of heavy rain swelled the river beyond its banks. The course was closed Monday and Tuesday.
Trek into the woods
Two weeks ago, a Chronicle review team found its way around The Links under hot, steamy conditions, the brand of weather typical of a southeast Texas summer day inside the wind-killing confines of dense forest.
Robbins moved as few trees as possible but as many as necessary in his design to create a golf course that is unusually generous off its tees but puts a premium on chipping and putting.
Even the narrowest fairways here, such as that on No. 11, are not so tight as to intimidate. Instead, they encourage a free-swinging attitude on the tee - and that can come back to haunt golfers with careless swings.
"The course looks wide open," said Jim Harrison, "but there's usually trouble on both sides of a hole."
Most of that trouble is jurisdictional wetlands or natural areas, both completely ungroomed and nearly impossible from which to play. Robbins made the course as fair as possible.
"We widened the fairways so that anything but a really sideways shot doesn't get involved (in the heaviest vegetation)," Robbins said.
While turf on most of the course is in excellent shape, for example, grass on a couple of tee boxes and fairways didn't take as well.
"We're going to re-sod those areas," said head pro Kevin Cornwell.
Excellent for putting
Putting surfaces at The Links are in excellent shape, especially considering the course opened in May. Greens were full and firm, although that last characteristic might have changed in the past week. They putted as they read, too, and are new enough not to be blemished yet by unrepaired ball marks.
The course forces a few long carries, but golfers who play from the right tees according to their own abilities should have no trouble clearing the hazards.
There is nothing around The Links' first 14 holes but raw land and river bottom. Home sites on high ground around the final four holes come as something of a surprise but don't seem overly intrusive on the habitat.
"It was a challenge to make everything balance," said Robbins.
He did his part with the golf course.
Cornwell and company are doing the same on the management side, and The Links at West Fork is well on its way to becoming one of the area's premier golf courses.
Source: The Houston Chronicle